NDJ:7 Deirdre Callanan

Burning Mouth Syndrome

While your husband became your wife,as you read his textsdescribing the process:scalp shifted forward,Adam’s apple shaved,edges of his brow filed,nose bobbed and lips plumped,your face began to tingle,

and by the time Dannyreturned from L.A. as Danielle,your tongue had whitened and furred.

After the Fugawi,Danielle posed in aqua linenat the Club’s bar,ready for anything,though nothing overt happened –this is, after all, Nantucket.

But what about you,your tongue scalded and serrated,on fire in some palpable way?From the cabana’s shade,you offered a vague smile,your glance reservedas you sucked ice from a tumbler.

What could we know of your sizzling mouth,of the words it mutters in the volcanic night,or what you must dowith that pallid, restless tongue?